When you want to move forward … sometimes you need to stop looking back.
Creative Staff:
Writer: Caitlin Kittredge
Artwork: Roberta Ingranata
Colors: Bryan Valenza
Letters: Troy Peteri
What They Say:
A missing-child case brings Alex and the Witchblade face to face with a powerful demon, and when Alex begins to suspect Ash isn’t telling her everything about the Artifact, she turns to her own sources for information, with devastating results.
Content (please note that portions of review may contain spoilers):
It has been two weeks since Alex met her strange new partner and they have yet to reach an agreement on how this relationship should work, or if it can between them. Even before her death, this poor woman had a hard enough time coping with traumas of the past, and now the present haunts her even more. While she may try to fight these insecurities, there is someone who wants to aid with the cursed jewelry named Witchblade, if she ever wished his help. Ash once again reminds Underwood he is here to assist with the adjustment, but someone is too stubborn to ask or accept any help, even as it tears her apart inside. Nightmares of the past constantly gnaw away at any remaining sanity, the death of someone dear echoes constantly, and yet Alex still thinks herself strong enough to handle things on her own. But when work calls to clarify a woman’s innocence in the disappearance of her daughter, she has no choice than to do what makes her feel comfortable in this mad world.
With New York’s finest puzzled on how to handle a mother’s confusion of what happened to her child, Alex steps in, but it seems all too simple. It is not long before the bereaved parent confesses her daughter will not be coming home, and with no other choice without evidence on where she is, the police take the poor woman in for more questioning. But this victims’ advocate still has queries of her own concerning what happened before, she needs answers and so brings a picture of Blake’s hand and strange tattoo to an associate who might have answers – an antiquities dealer named Majil. This is one person who does not want to see Alex again after their last encounter, but with her sincere powers of persuasion, he opens up and elaborates on the meaning of the symbols … it is a hex mark. With this sinister script the bearer can become the vessel for otherworldly beings, but of course, there is a cost. However as this information is revealed, something wicked creeps into the room, taunting the pair in earnest to make this intrusion their very last.
In Summary:
As we delve deeper into the mysteries surrounding Alex’s complicated life, writer Caitlin Kittredge tosses in even more deliciously twisted details for confusion, but in a good way. But what is most appreciative is how she has expanded much-needed monologues to elaborate on sometimes distorted elements within this complex narrative. There are so many tangential plot lines introduced in each issue, they at times bog down the clarity of the main story – Alex needing to understand her relationship with the Witchblade. While these side stories may seem unnecessary at times, once you begin to comprehend the scope of the overall tale, they settle in and provide richer details to the expanding tapestry. However for some it may seem like these wanderings are watering down Alex’s journey and wish for a more straightforward telling and action with the aforementioned weapon, but then you would be missing Kittredge’s attempt to enrich our heroine. All of these diversions help to add more depth, allowing for a concentration of meaning to something which would later be lacking in dramatic flavor. But at the same time, too much drama can and does slow down the advancement of what most remember as an action-driven title, so hopefully we will not remain in the dark for much longer, otherwise, all of this build up may work against the foundation which Kittredge has worked so hard to develop.
But as always, it is the elegant melancholy which Roberta Ingranata explores within magnificently hidden moments of pensive hope which brings you back to the title, each and every time. The method by which she displays Alex’s sullen world, one of which is intermingled with touches of tenderness, but then shattered with equally shocking events which erase those brief lapses … it makes you want to see more, even as painfully become part of our own memories. And yet as Ingranata communicates such brief embraces of emotions within a grey world, Bryan Valenza tries to show the reader through his wondrous use of vivid colors she has not lost hope, as the emotional landscape seems to close around us. There is always a twinkle of life remaining in Alex’s eyes, even within this depressing issue, but he surges out on his own when the Witchblade awakens. Those few pages of battle are so epic and vibrant, matching the color of the bracelet to the background of those panels, almost as if we are drawn into the weapon itself to fight the menace. Those eldritch green whips of energy, while they are minimal, make the entire scene come alive, especially as he ties them together with the same glow within Alex’s eyes, connecting bearer and weapon as never before. This is the way the relationship should be depicted, showing the two becoming one, just as artist and colorist reflect the partnership in an equal and synergistic way.
Witchblade slowly draws the reader into a world of all-encompassing somberness, projecting upon us the emotional turbulence which is Alex’s world. And yet as we delve deeper into her trauma, the understanding which is essential to the title only makes us want for more. Then add the overwhelming ambiance of sensational artwork and enveloping colors and we receive a series which communicates something which none have done before with such dignity – a need for understanding within chaos. If this is how the series will progress, then we are in for something truly special amidst a confusion of repetitive superhero comics.
Grade: A-
Rating: T (Teen)
Released By: Image Comics
Release Date: February 07, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
